Design concept for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, as seen from Losee Park in Tarrytown. The first barges for the $3.9 billion project arrived in the Hudson River on Monday.

Written by

The first barges for the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge project arrived in the Hudson River on Monday.

Tappan Zee Constructors, the firm designing and building the new span, will test the riverbed's soil and land on New York State Thruway Authority property in Rockland and Westchester counties. The work is expected to take eight weeks.

"This is an extension of the Smart Early Work conducted by the Thruway Authority in the Hudson River last Spring," Brian Conybeare, special adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the project, said in a statement. "Tappan Zee Constructors will be doing ...